Yang's Revenge
by Misthios
Summary: Yang Xiao Long is at the end, Salem didnt win... but neither did Yang, on the contrary, she had lost dearly, but it was not to be the end when her body went cold and eyes began to close, it was simply the end of her first try, it's time for round 2, may the gods have mercy on those that wronged her and the ones she holds dear. M rated for all the reasons, chapter 1 is a prologue.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter-1 End of the old... Beginning again...

 _Yang would find herself amiss, in the end, she was alone once more, so much she wished she could have done and yet she was too weak. For she could not protect the ones she loved, and so she was lost in her own eternal damnation. Even now, at the very top of Mount Grimm, Standing within the destroyed walls of Salem's keep, she did not feel pride, or accomplishment, or joy, not even a sense of justice or vengance._

 _She stood in an Atlesian military flak jacket and combat vest, black as night, military grade pants and combat boots as well, a tight cloth mask covering her mouth and nose, her unruly blond hair covering her left eye, her right eye was calm, but still burned a bloody crimson, it had been like this ever since... no, she would not think about that, not now, she would cry when she was dead. She looked down at her cybernetic arm, it had long since been upgraded by the same scientist that built penny, she was greatful for his help... but she went ahead and let the poor man down as well, he too was dead..._

 _Everyone was dead... even her... yes, Yang was dead, to herself and to the world, she only existed now... a finite period of being, one that was coming to an end... soon..._

 _But not until she ripped this white haired, pale skinned shitstain limb from limb and hung the damn thing from it's entrails..._

 _Salem... the monster, the witch, the horrid demon that had destroyed everything with her hoards of grimm and her manipulation of the most vulnerable people she could find... Cinder was just one of many once innocent souls dragged in after being betrayed by their fellow man and faunus alike..._

 _Oh how she would enjoy this... deep down inside._

 _There was no speaking necessary, even as Salem's fortress burned around them, Atlesian soldiers lay dead all around with decaying Grimm and Huntsmen along with Huntresses and combat drones littered the floor, stinking of rotting flesh and blood with oil. Salem hated Yang, and Yang oh so very much hated Salem, that was the only thing they would ever be able to agree on, their mutual loathing of the other._

 _Wind blew silently into the throne room, the walls smashed to bits by heavy weapons fire, smoke billowing out of the other sections, the atmosphere was heavy but the air was thin, dark purple skies erupted with red lightning far off in the distance, and the shattered moon hung overhead._

 _It took only a single twitch, and both of them went at eachother's throats, Salem threw a burst of black fire at Yang, melting the stone floor where she once stood, Yang had jumped and came crashing down on the steps to the throne but Salem was not idle either, ducking to the side just in time and extending her claws to swipe at Yang_.

 _The blond deftly raised her metal arm to block while her other hand grabbed Salem by the neck and threw the witch into a wall causing it to crack, Yang then sprinted towards her and threw a pile-driver into her chin, causing the wall to cave in at the point of impact._

 _Yang grinned._ "Not so tough are you now, you bitch..." _She growled out, her voice was no longer that of a young teen, but a woman now, Salem however did not find that statement amusing as she planted her clawed hands directly into Yang's stomach. It was going an anti-climactic end... both opponents where spent on their aura, Salem had stolen her reserves, and Yang had used up the last that Jaune had given her before he passed. "Make it count" he had said... and she certainly was..._

 _Salem's cracked skull was hemorrhaging black blood that leaked out of the wall and down to the floor, as well as oozing over Yang's fist. Crimson fluid also began to leak from Yang's gut, she pulled her fist away, letting the witch fall to the floor with her skull split open, Yang then stumbled back, before her body found the floor, a puddle of red pooling around her as her vision went blurry, it was all so cold, so surreal..._

 _And so lonely..._

 _But it was not the end... the god's would not accept such an outcome, they refused, chaos would still reign after all was said and done, Dark and Light needed help to balance eachother, Life and Death..._

 _This was not over, not by a long shot, things needed to happen that did not occur. It was time for round 2, the pieces on the board reset, it would be different this time..._

 _It had to be, for everyone's sake..._


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: A couple things, number one, with italics like _this_ most of the time it is going to be actions, however they are also going to be the train of thought for characters as they think to themselves as well as be narration for backstory, the following segment as well as the last chapter being prime examples of what I mean

#2 Reviews are very much expected and appreciated, I very much enjoy hearing the feedback of my readers.

#3 Yang may seem like a marry sue at first, she is not, she will make mistakes and come across difficult challenges. But remember, she gets stronger every time she fights, and this blond terror of a huntress has spent years on end in the front lines of the biggest, bloodiest, and most brutal/savage war to date spanning the entire planet, she has fought monsters and criminals and advanced war machines of complete terror and devastation that would make even the most battle hardened present day huntress or hunter shit themselves, and has spent a long ass time training, improving her skills, knowledge and her physical capabilities. For at least the beginning of this story, do not be surprised when Yang is pretty much a 1-woman weapon of mass destruction.

Chapter 2... Consolidation

 _Yang opened her eye... something she never thought she would do again, everything fucking HURT, like holy shit who decided to run her over with an Atlassian freight train?_

 _She groaned and waited for her vision to come back to her, she was... warm, she had not felt pleasant warmth in a long time, the past few years of hell fighting Grimm, rouge Atlas military personnel and hunter grade crime bosses always happened in some god's forsaken frozen wasteland somewhere in the northern blizzard hell-scape that was Weiss's home continent._

 _She blinked away some of the blurry fog in her vision, slowly coming to, and looked around, it was dark out, very cloudy to be exact, was this Hell? No there was not any fire, Heaven on a rainy day? Nope, no angles or gods to be found. Purgatory?_

 _Her stomach growled, she had no food._

 _Definitely Hell..._

 _She got up, using a tree she had been sitting up against to support her as she stood, her whole body felt like shit, how did she even get here?_

 _She pulled out her scroll on a whim, maybe there was a news feed or date that she could take a look at, the CCT had recovered roughly a year after they first went down and had been upgraded under the direct supervision of Ironwood himself, both in terms of their range and quality of connection along with, and this was the important one, Cyber-Security..._

 _They did not need another Vytal incident... no sir._

 _She turned on her custom scroll, over the years she had taken to upgrading it whenever she could, it was important to always have it up to date, the device was black with gold trim and a silver heart that separated when the item extended and then came back together when closed up, the screen itself was always set to dark mode, easier on the eyes. It quickly logged in to the CCT..._

Warning: Older transmission data detected, CCT is possibly out of order or has been infiltrated, proceed with uplink? (Y/N)

"The fuck? Ironwood you where supposed to take care of this shit..." _She tapped "Y" to confirm the uplink and saw... something oddly familiar..._

"These news reports are from years ago..." _She then looked at the date and her eyes widened. If the date was correct... and she was actually hopeful it was... this date... it was just a couple weeks before she joined Beacon... with Ruby... and..._

 _She went weak at the knees, there was no way in hell... no, it couldn't be... this was too good to be true, how-?_

 _She stopped dead in her tracks with that line of thought. She knew exactly how, the gods needed balance, they needed a stable peace on remnant... with the loss of the greatest hero's and villains on both sides it would be a chaotic mess, people would scramble for power, societies would collapse into disorder, it would all fall apart and the human race along with the faunus would be sent back to the dark ages..._

 _This was her shot... everyone wishes they had a second chance but they never get it, this was her real second shot... she was blessed with opportunity... she would not waste it... oh no, this was going to be a lot of work but she could feel in her bones that this was perfect..._

 _She was strong, stronger than any other hunter or huntress that remnant had to offer, she had spent years fighting a war in her prime, slaughtering grimm, training, learning new ways to fight, building her aura reserves every time she got into battle and would always come out stronger than ever. She needed food... and sleep... oh gods yes, a nice warm bed... it has been far too long since she had one..._

 _And then she would do her job... protect her friends, family, lovers, and the people of remnant..._

 _And to do that, she needed to compile her black list..._

 _Her singular eye narrowed, and she smiled cruelly under the mask covering her mouth and nose. Oh yes... this was going to be great... and her number one target right now was probably in Menargerie, completely oblivious to his impending doom._

 _It was a moment she would savor... seeing the life leave his eyes as she ripped it out of him... oh so many people to slaughter and so little time but that one? She would enjoy immensely._

 _Her stomach growled again, once again reminding her she had not eaten a good hot meal in forever... MRE's where as good as she got, or she used some of her spare time hunting wild game, which was often very limited and what she ate was normally cooked to ash and thus tasted like shit because diseases where running rampant and they could not afford infections._

 _She was going to find a restaurant, and she was gonna have the biggest, JUICIEST_ _fucking steak they had, gods be damned if she didn't._

 _There was a fenced dirt road beside her, she checked her scroll again and opened up her GPS, checking where the nearest town was. She found it was 2 miles south, upon checking what public services it had she groaned when she saw all low quality bars and a few dust refill stations. There was however a small air taxi service... she was in Mistral right now, if she was lucky she could get a ride to the capital, get that mother fucking steak, a good night's rest..._

 _And deal with that pussy, headmaster Lionheart... then take that question answering lamp thing, seriously that was a really bitchy artifact but necessary. She was lucky enough to have the Fall Maiden's powers... Raven... did not require them anymore... not in her time, and even now she could feel that power swell within her._

 _She looked down the dirt road and it began to rain._

 _Her hair was getting wet, her beloved hair, she would need a shower, soon, and right now she really missed bumblebee, she would need a new bike and helmet now._

 _But until then, she would walk, she could use a good stretch anyways, she passed a hooded woman on the way down, not really noticing them as she was lost in thought and made her way down the winding dirt road._

* * *

 _Yang forgot how much she hated mud... Rain? She normally loved rain, and the fresh green grass after that, and the lightning._

 _But FUCK MUD!_

 _She felt her boot nearly get stuck in the muck and she rolled her eye, ripping it out and sending the gook towards the forest, splattering the trees. Thankfully, she saw that town in the distance, she was not worried about how she would purchase the air taxi tickets, a hunter's scroll could operate as a private bank, if you had Lien, you would go to the bank, give them the cash and they would turn it into cyber currency and transfer it to your scroll, after that you could digitally transfer money to other scrolls or cash registers, all she had to do was transfer a few Lien from her small fortune (being a war-time huntress elite paid very well)_ _and she would be on her merry way..._

 _At least that was what she planned to do, but just as she was entering the town and looking around, she was reminded that it was important to take care of the most important things first. She WAS in Mistral right now, she could take care of Adam later... right now, she should be concentrating on the here and now, sweet vengeance could wait until after she was done with the problems here._

 _Mainly that stupid headmaster and the artifact._

 _She sighed in disappointment realizing she would not get to have her fun for a while, walking up to the ticket booth for the air taxi and leaning over the counter, ringing the little bell and waiting for service. A faunus woman greeted her, as made apparent by a pair of snake fangs with her teeth as she smiled._

"Hello there, I am sorry but the taxi is out of order... we are trying to get a shipment of new parts soon, ours are... not available at this time." _The woman winced while giving Yang's arm a look over, that was something Yang would need to take care of soon, some sort of glove to cover up her metal appendage, but she did detect a stutter in the voice of the faunus, perhaps there was more to the story._ "What happened to your parts?" _Yang inquired_ "I am sorry but I am not at liberty t-"

 _Yang planted her scroll on the counter and pressed a display button, causing the holographic projector on her scroll to display her Huntress ID and certification along with her license and official registration._

"O-OH! A HUNTRESS! What Luck! Listen, I am sorry but I cant just go around telling everyone, I think you can help me out with this though, scavenger bandits that live in the hills east of here stole them and said if I wanted them back I would have to pay the ransom... my principals dictate that I don't comply but I need those parts and if I order them for repairs it would cost 3 times more than the ransom. The police are also unable to leave town in search of them because of Grimm activity... Can you get them back for me? I can pay you fo-"

 _Yang held up her left arm and closed her eye, causing the girl to stop._ "Don't worry, you've given me all I need to know, I will be back with the parts soon. If you want to pay me back, a free ride is all I need, I have to get to the capital and I am short on time."

 _The Faunus was very excited._ "Wonderful! I will be waiting here for you, once you get back you can have a first-class seat all the way to the capital free of charge!"

 _Yang nodded, turning off her scroll and pocketing it before strolling away and looking to the nearby forested hills._

 _She grinned and cracked her knuckles. It was time for a little bit of a workout..._

* * *

 _In said hills, the banditos in question where 100% unaware of the blond demi-godess that was on the hunt for them, the poor bastards._

 _Finding them was easy enough, they had a camp fire going in a small cave, the smoke and light where easy enough to pick out, these guys either had an accident or they where not at all professional. She approached the cave network with her eye narrowed and entered quietly, making sure each step was measured, precise, and quiet as could be, even if she did make a little noise, the rain, harsh winds and thunderclaps would most definitely mask her approach._

 _So low and behold, when she walked in, 3 of them where snoring by the camp fire, 1 was fishing around for a beer in a pile of coolers and bottles, and the last one, as far as she could tell with what she was hearing around the corner, was "Bleeding the snake" as it where._

 _She had grown used to professional, cold blooded killers that had to be put down, these guys where rank armatures, low end thieves at the worst, at least she would not need to draw blood on her first day back._

 _She rolled her eyes, walking up to them and bashing their heads together, dazing them and making them roll around on the ground, groaning in pain. The other bandit heard the commotion and turned around reaching for a baseball bat near the wall._

 _He never touched it however as he was suddenly grabbed by the neck with the silver metal arm of the elite huntress and found himself choking and gasping for air, she lifted him off the ground while he panicked, kicking out his legs trying to hit her somehow but his feet bounced right off of her aura shield._

"What the f-" _The other bandit ran around the corner only to be body-slammed by the one Yang was previously holding in a death grip, hitting the wall and knocking them both out cold. She hummed a merry tune... one she remembered Summer singing a long time ago... and headed towards the back area, she safely assumed it was the closest thing to their loot storage, and she was correct, in a little "Room" at the end held a series of parts in a wagon, which she recognized as being ones for the engine block of a MZ-111 Sky-Whale, the modern Mistrilian air taxi. She took all of the Lien and ammo she found lying around and stuffed her pockets with it, she didn't need it, and didn't plan to keep it, she would give the ammo to the local police and the money to a charity, and these bums would learn that crime didn't pay..._

 _And so she walked off, away from the scene of her work and back into town where her ride to bigger and better things awaited her._


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3... Blood of Raven

A/N This is going to be one of the darker chapters, i understand that Future!Yang has no real backstory yet beyond her anti-climactic death and reincarnation in chapter's 1 and 2, this story will introduce chunks of it here and there, bit by bit. And, well this chapter's title should be self explanatory... expect some major depressing feels, i will say no more on that.

Note-2 You will notice that the pairings changed around a bit. To be completely honest with all of you i am not 100% certain who will get it on with who if you get my meaning. Feel free to tell me your favorite pairings, So far i am thinking Yang x Neo, Weiss x Blake, and Ruby x Cinder (my reasons for such are my own) And so the chapter begins now!

 _Atlas... it was a beautiful place, filled with mountains and snow just as much as vast grassy plains and sunshine... or at least, it should have been... the Atlessian capital was in shambles... the city was doused in flames, destroyed buildings and wrecked vehicles. Dead civilians and soldiers alike littering the pavement as the streets ran red with blood..._

"Weiss! On your six!" _Yang had shouted, the white haired princess was battling a small army of Atlessian Knights, but a Paladin had smashed through a nearby office building, the black queen virus as it was called had been running rampant all across the CCT, infecting military hardware and communications all across Remnant._

 _The Rapier wielding young woman managed to duck out of the way just in time to avoid it's massive fist, and explosions rumbled across the city, as more Atlessian Knights flooded out of every conceivable nook and cranny, there had to have been thousands closing in on them, team RWBY had long since taken to wearing more reliable armor incase their aura shield was broken, weiss was wearing a white flak jacket with small steel platelets_ on _critical parts of her body underneath, Blake, like Yang was also wearing a lighter vest though and without the armor plate, it was enough to stop blades if nessecary, and finally Ruby who had opted for an urban camo suit to complement her sniping style when she was trying to be stealthy._

"We've got to get out of here! Our ambush on Cinder was a mistake from the start, pull back and regroup!" _Blake shouted as she dumped a magazine from an SMG she picked up off of one of the soldiers into the knight formation she was facing, Gambol shroud had long since ran out of ammo._

 _"_ What!? No we can still take her! We just need to-" _Yang was cut off by a burst of heavy cannon fire, an 88 millimeter high explosive shell flying directly past and blowing open a shopping center sending glass and debris flying._ "Mother fuckin hell that was too close!"

"They've got tanks! I count 6 Panzer-IIV's coming down the main street! Atlessian Paladins closing in down route 22 and 83 from the north and south east! Get out now before they trap you in a killbox!" _Ruby shouted over the comms._

 _Yang growled, they had gotten so close and yet they where so far._

"Fine! Split up! it will make us harder to track, Ruby you too, we will regroup at the forward camp in the mountains near sector 37! Agreed!?"

 _A chorus of affirmatives met her ear_

"Break contact and get clear!" _The team popped smoke grenades, Weiss used an anti gravity glyph to send Yang flying down an empty alleyway before she broke off, Blake used her shadow clones to trick the enemy into following false copies with misdirection while she snuck into the sewers and Ruby used her speed to blitz out of her sniping position and clear the city, heading into the forests._

 _Yang herself ran out of the main city and ended up in a smaller town branching off of the capital, it was deserted, not a soul to be seen... except she was not alone, as she entered she heard someone clapping._

 _She turned around to see a floating jellyfish-like Grimm, acting as a sort of crystal ball as she could see Salem's smiling face next to her, was a weary and disheveled looking Cinder Fall, who Yang was having mixed feelings about. Jinn had told her things about the supposed "Villain" she never would have thought to hear, and she was torn on weather she could really hate or blame Cinder, perhaps even feel sympathy for her... but right now she could not think on such things... she was most likely about to fight for her life, against a maiden... with Grimm powers..._

 _Joy... fucking wonderful luck..._

 _A monstrous Grimm, a Nuclave if she remembered correctly, walked out from behind a building next to Cinder and looked at Yang like she was a tasty snack._

 _Double fuck..._

"Cinder, remove this thorn from my side." _Salem commanded._

 _And so Cinder obeyed, launching her Grimm claw hand at Yang aiming for her face, it was too fast and too sudden for her to register in time, and as she tried to duck out of the way it siliced through a tiny sliver of her skin by her cheek as her aura was still recovering from the battle beforehand._

 _Cinder then formed her obsidian daggers and sprinted towards the blond, who ducked and weaved out of the way as best she could. But as she was backing off away from the onslaught, her boot's heel hit a rise in the broken concrete, causing her to trip and fall back_

"I'm sorry... " _Cinder stood above her now with her daggers raised and poised to slam down into Yang's chest._ "It will all be over in a moment..."

 _Yang closed her eyes, clenching her fists, she was too weak... and as she waited for her death, she heard the sound of metal slamming against metal and sparks flying, she opened her eyes to see a red blade blocking Cinder's daggers... what?_

 _She followed Cinder's fearful gaze down the length of the sword..._

"Mom...?"

 _The raven haired spring maiden snarled at cinder, her red eyes alight with fury as she glared Cinder down_ "Stay away from my daughter!"

 _Cinder quickly disengaged and took a great many steps back, Salem sighed in mild annoyance._ "Cinder,take her powers by any means."

 _The Nuclave turned it's horrific gaze upon Yang while Cinder leaped at Raven, it twitched and writhed in an unsettling manner, creeping towards her... she had to run... so she forced her body to move, scrambling to her feet and making a run for it, she didnt have the time or energy to fight an S-Class Grimm and hope to win, but so long as she had it's attention, Raven had only one enemy to worry about, she ran through the houses, bashing through doors and jumping out of windows over fences and breaking through gates as she lead the damn thing on a wild goose chase, it screached and kept trying to get at her, but her quick thinking always kept her out of it's reach._

 _Just as she exited one such house, the claw extended, and made to pierce her like a javelin, she jumped over it just in time for it to graze the underside of her combat boots and slam into the yard, she kept on running though... she couldn't stop now, but she couldn't just leave Raven to potentially die at the hands of Cinder._

 _She turned around and sprinted back towards the area where she last saw the 2 of them, and they where really going at it, the power behind their strikes constantly destroying eachother's weapons, and forcing them to create and draw out new ones to continue the battle, Maiden against Maiden, Raven was building up her ice magic reserves, preparing to freeze Cinder over._

 _But that would not work... not this time, as Raven went to block an overhead strike, it ended up being a feint, as Cinder redirected her blow to Raven's legs, which she deftly countered, but it left her open as Cinder extended her free hand and the Grimm vampire beetle lunged out, splattering it's power sapping goo all over Raven, who was met with a wave of pain as her power was drained, it was so fast that she was in shock with her eyes wide, and to finish the job, Cinder stabbed her obsidian dagger into Raven's stomach, her aura shield shattering. Yang saw this... she had to stop it... her mother came back for her, she would not leave Raven to die!_

 _Yang let out a scream and charged at Cinder who was still absorbing the spring maiden's power, causing a backblast as she was caught off guard and had to disengage, but she was hit anyways, Yang used her anger to make the punch hit like a truck and thus Cinder went flying, Raven grabbed Yang and opened a rift, tossing her in before scrambling through herself, and the portal closed, dropping them off in the outskirts of Patch._

 _Cinder groaned in pain and bit down on her lips, drawing blood as she removed the dagger from her gut and used what little aura she had left to try to heal, she slumped against a great oak tree, and Yang recovered her senses, getting up and scrambling to check on Raven._

"Raven! Are you ok?! I-" _Yang stopped her questioning, questions where stupid and they cost you time, she applied pressure to the wound and looked around, there was not a soul in sight, she felt Raven's blood coat her hands as the bleeding only increased. The blond was about to panic._

"Yang... "

"Raven...?"

"I... I'm so sorry I-" _She coughed violently and cried, the blood loss was internal as well, the black goo covering her was leaking off but left burn scars all across her face and visible body._ "I failed you... i left you... i thought that if i left i could protect you... being related to me was too dangerous... but all i did was leave you without a mother... i couldn't help you... i couldnt keep you safe and you learned to hate me because of how scared i really am... you're right... " _She barked a sad laugh_ "You where so right... i am weak... i am scared... and i was wrong... so very wrong... but i never meant to hurt you Yang... never... never... I-... " _She was shaking as blood leaked from her mouth and tears fell freely from her eyes. Yang was crying too holding on to Raven tight._ "-... I- I love..." _Raven fell silent before she could finish, the blood silently dripping out of her lips and pooling around her, coating Yang's hands and knees in it. Her red eyes dilating._

"Ra- Mom... mom no... nonononono NO! NO MOM DONT GO! PLEASE! NO!" _She began to give Raven CPR, pumping her hands against her mother's chest and giving mouth-to-mouth, trying to put air in her... but she remained still... e ven after doing it for over 10 minutes straight... her mother was gone... she pulled back, covered in blood and tears, shaking as she looked at her hands caked in her mother's life fluid... out of Raven however, came a small whiff of energy, Cinder had cut the connection hastily... and in the process, gifted a portion of her strength to Raven... and now that Raven was dead, the last woman in her thoughts would now be gifted with the energy that needed a new host... Yang..._

"It's not fair... i never wanted this... no... no... come back... mom... i love you too..." _She sobbed and hugged her mother's lifeless body, weaving her hands through her mothers hair and crying, holding Raven's forehead to her own_

"Mom..."

"Mom..."

"Mom, the scary lady is going to miss her stop."

 _Yang's single visible red eye slowly opened, no sign of her raging sadness and turmoil from the dream... no, the nightmare she just had... a vision of the past... she felt for the hilt of her mother's old sword, and found it still hidden safe and sound underneath her flak jacket, she grabbed hold of it tightly and it gave her a little bit of comfort... she saw the little boy pointing at her and her mother shushed him, Yang rolled her eye... kids..._

"Approaching Mistral Central Capital, home of Haven Academy, please be ready to depart when we land, thanks for flying with us!"

 _She sighed and got up out of her seat, rolling her head to stretch it as well as doing the same for her arms and shoulders before doing the same with her feet, she had been out cold for the past few hours._

 _I'_ _ll make you proud again mom... and i wont let you die... not again..._

 _She stepped out of the air taxi with a few extra passengers on the landing pad and took a quick look around, there where exactly 2 places of interest here, first Haven... then she had to visit a little spider in a parlor..._

A/N To answer a review, no, future Yang will not have to kill her present self, nor did she take her present self's spot, they are 2 different entities, i wont be saying anhthing more on that matter.

On this matter however **Review!**


	4. Chapter 4

A/N _Please dont kill me, real life happened and i was not prepared, to anyone still reading, thanks, to new viewers, welcome, please review  
_

* * *

Chapter - 4 "Contempt"

 _Yang was not pleased... no, pleased is what you would call someone who is happy, satisfied or at least content. Yang was not that, she was anything BUT that..._

 _SHE STILL DIDNT GET HER STEAK DAMNIT!_

 _Eyes rolling at her bad fortune, the Capital of Mistral was undergoing meat supply shortages, as cattle farmers have been dealing with Grimm killing their stock. It seemed Salem even here and now mocked her by using her otherworldly demonic creatures to ruin her day, even if it was not intentionally towards the blonde. Still Yang could not help but be worried, she was back, yes, but what if Salem had also returned? She didn't want to think about that possibility._

 _She mused to herself as she laid on her hotel bed, it felt almost like a log cabin, but a multi-story one, it wasn't too unlike her home in Patch, though admittedly this place was more rustic, not a bad thing, just different, refreshing almost. But the situation as a whole felt awfully familiar, she was alone with no contacts, a fortune on her scroll was at least present to get her around, feed herself and find shelter, but even as the war turned her cold and rather harsh... she was still human, she found herself lonely in the Mistrilian capital, surrounded by many and yet by nobody simultaniously. The fact that most of these poor bastards had died before... or, after? Whatever the term was, she felt like she was in the middle of a ghost town._

 _But that would not come to pass, would it? She would be able to save them right?_

 _... Right...?_

 _She shook her head and closed her ever glowing crimson eye, the one that she still had left that is... the other was replaced long ago, granted it didnt look bad, it was a functioning cybernetic eye and to anyone not paying close attention it was perfectly normal looking, but a close enough inspection would reveal it to be bio-mechanical... yet another thing she had to thank the late doctor for on a long list of MANY things he had done to save her ravaged body... was she even human anymore? Perhaps not... so many surgeries... so many parts of her that did not naturally get there, wires and gears and servos and fuel lines and belts of ammo hidden in most of her limbs, she had lost them at some point or another, even multiple times, to viscious Grimm, robotic monstrosities or agents of Salem alike, she was more machine at this point, only her torso and head had remained mostly untouched by additions, her limbs where not so fortunate, though most where covered up, such a thought darkened her spirit... she had lost so much..._

 _Thus bringing her to her contempt... was she going to die anyways when all this was done? Fade to nothingness? Would her existence here simply be erased after she had either won or lost? Would she get a happy ending too...? Or was it all hopeless for her future...?_

 _A tear left her uncovered eye. No, that could not be true... the gods where ruthless to their enemies, cold and logical? Certainly, but they where not without mercy, their second chance granted to Ozpin to save human and faunus alike was proof of their willingness to forgive and help those they created, her being here now was proof enough, she would just have to work harder than ever before..._

 _But where to start? Where in this insane world they all lived in was she supposed to start? At first the thought of confronting Lionheart, the pussycat without courage felt like a good idea... but what would happen when Salem realized that one of her henchmen had died and the vault was raided of it's prized possession? She had no idea what that DEMON would do to retaliate, Yang was no stranger to the butterfly effect, she had heard enough about it from books, while time travel felt like a silly concept til yesterday evening she knew damn well that every action has an equal and opposite reaction, the more shit she changes, the more shit will go off course, her knowledge of Salem's plans was her latchkey, her one true advantage, foresight, she knew what could and would happen under the right circumstances, if she changed things so drastically so soon then that advantage becomes worthless, almost everything she knows of Salem's plots would become a moot point because Salem would adapt and change tactics..._

 _But what was the point of such knowledge if she DIDNT use it? If she waited too long? Let too many things slip? Then she fails ANYWAYS..._

 _She could not fail, she would not, her friends where counting on her... a lot... they didn't know it yet but they where and Yang could not slip up, not in the slightest... she would have to take risks... she would have to do bad things... possibly to people that might not deserve it... she would have to kill... a lot... and for once she was not looking forward to it, not in the slightest, granted, she would get much pleasure out of certain kills... but she had been fighting for so long... she once wanted to make a career out of it, to fight Grimm, save people, get paid... and now the only thing she could think about was retiring... somewhere nice, settle down with someone, get away from all the blood and death that has stained her hands and would continue to do so._

 _Her eye opened again and she sighed, sitting up in bed and throwing her feat over the edge to look out the window, it was still gloomy outside, a big storm was coming, she could feel it, both literally and figuratively, Ruby would soon be accepted into Beacon due to her combat with Roman. How should she handle this? She didn't dare intervene, Ruby was pivotal to the creation of team RWBY._

 _There was also her younger self to contend with... it would make no sense for her present version to disappear because her future self was in this timeframe, they where different. True they had the same blood, the same looks... for the most part... but she herself was older... wiser... her spirit had darkened... she was not like her bubbly younger counterpart at all. Besides, calling herself Yang didn't feel right, Yang translated to Light, light and fire and hope... there was fire to herself, certainly... but it was not light and pleasantly warm... it was a raging inferno of pain, loss and misery..._

 _So, it only felt appropriate to give herself a new name, and, well she was feeling lazy, why bother with an elaborate and childish codename? Like the red devil? or whatever... no, simple and straightforward would suffice, Yang was a name that belonged to her younger self, until further notice she would be "Yin". it seemed only fitting, the opposite side of the same coin, such irony..._

 _But Ya-, no, Yin could not think about such trivial things right now, she was a woman on a mission, where did she go? What should she do? She had a million and one options and yet she couldn't think of the right one..._

 _She could perhaps make contact with Qrow? Or Ozpin? She was almost thinking about going to her mother... but no, she was a stubborn woman, like mother like daughter, convincing her without help or real proof would be impossible. Qrow was open minded enough but his fatherly instincts would kick in like crazy and she would try to lock her away and keep her safe... same with her actual dad, Taiyang..._

 _Ozpin was... a mixed bag, he was as old as he was unpredictable, the man was a walking talking enigma, she had no doubt she could throw him for a loop here or there and give him a run for his money in certain aspects, but Ozpin was an immortal spirit with the wisdom to match someone of his mental age. He was also incredibly cautious and untrusting of unknown variables, something Yin could certainly be considered. What if he somehow decided she was a threat and tried to imprison her after she confronted him? There was no way the man would be able to beat her alone but he had many allies and she basically had none, she had no connections, nowhere she could safely hide and plan. She didnt belong here, and that was becoming more obvious with every passing moment_

 _She frowned in irritation, her hands coming together as she leaned forward, pulling one of her legs onto the bed and resting her chin on her knee_

 _Thus, she is brought to the same question once more this night... what was she supposed to do? There where so many options that she had no idea how to begin her quest... no calm down Yin... you can sort this out, remember your training and take this one step at a time..._

 _She thought hard on the matter. Ozpin, Qrow, Taiyang, and Ironwood where all out of the picture, she didnt want to contact them unless she had a good reason to, so for now they would have to stay in the dark. She sure as hell couldnt go to her friends, not directly at least as much as she dearly missed all of them... perhaps she could find a way to stay at Beacon another way... no way in hell she could pass as a student but... a Security guard perhaps? Yes that might work, it would let her keep an eye on past self, her sister, her team mates and all her other friends, teachers and classmates at the Academy, be there for them._

 _But Beacon's next semester was not for some time yet, she had to wait a while before going to the castle, so what else was there? Perhaps she could pay Minagere a visit... Lionheart was a key piece to Salem, a directly controlled henchman that she kept a very close eye on. The white fang however was expendable, they where proxies, and ones she knew that Cinder must have only just recently befriended, their destruction would rid the world of an annoying thorn and save them a lot of trouble. Less terrorists to worry about, and more focus could be put on fighting Grimm._

 _There was also the matter of the communications network hijack, if the black queen virus sucessfully infiltrated the CCTS then over half the Atlesian military would turn on the other half and kill hundreds of innocent people, if not thousands, that couldnt be allowed to happen. One of the reasons so much had been lost is because Vale, and Beacon had fallen, and it caused a domino effect._

 _Yes... yes those where all good ideas, first idea, pay Minagere a visit and slaughter the White Fang high command, and secondly she had to find a good hacker of some sort to help her develop a counter-virus to stop the CCTS from being compromised... and then after both of those objectives had been completed she could go to Beacon... her home away from home..._

 _Alright, yeah, she could work with this... she grinned like a cheshire cat beneath the cloth covering most of her face._

"It's all coming together..." _She mused, but now onto her second order of business, a change in appearance was in order... she was not looking forward to this but it might be for the best._

 _She made her way to the bathroom and looked at her recently purchased item, hair dye, glossy black in color, her hair was like a beacon of light, she was too easily noticed with this wild mane and needed to be a bit more subtle and low profile in the future, as much as she hated tampering with her beloved hair. This was required..._

 _And when Yin was finished... her heart froze for a moment as she looked in the mirror... she almost looked like her mother... not quite, the skin color, hair color, and of course the eye where very much the same, only the differing facial features thanks to some of her father made the difference._

 _Still... the resemblance was uncanny..._

 _She took a deep breath and shook her head, Yin couldn't afford a relapse right now, she had to focus on the mission..._

 _First, a trip to Atlas, developing a solid counter-virus to defend the CCTS was paramount and would take time and money. She had to find the right person for the job, only when that was done and if she had enough time would she decide to go to Menagerie or skip it and head to Vale._

 _She nodded herself and walked out of the bathroom, grabbing her scroll and throwing out the spent bottle of hair dye. She only needed to stay here overnight, now that a gloomy morning had set in, it was time to leave. She left the hotel after paying her tab, grabbed a quick breakfast and then went straight to the docks, travel by ship took longer than air service but Mistral didn't have much in the way of an air fleet, getting out of atlas via flight would be easy for the most part, they excelled in aviation quite a bit._

 _As luck would have it, her multi-day trip across the ocean was uneventful, Grimm did exist below the waves but their numbers where scarce and they didn't usually stray into the deeper parts of the ocean besides the biggest and meanest. She quickly left the boat and observed the sight before her, Mantle was the main continent, and Atlas was the floating city above the massive network of slums. Finding a hacker in either part of the Atlesian state would be a bit difficult, asking the wrong people would either get the police on a manhunt for a suspected terrorist or the gangs would decide you had enough money to try and mug you. Granted, she wasn't scared of such assailants, she could avoid or defeat them easily, her problem was that word of people looking for other people got around, if she spooked whoever could help her then finding them would become increasingly more difficult._

 _She could try to look for Penny's father but... such a thing would bring unwanted attention, the man worked closely with Ironwood and she could not afford exposure, he was a last resort._

 _So she used_ _her extensive street smarts to blend in, there was a code around these kinds of places, don't stick out, don't talk to anybody unless you where ready for a potential fight, keep track of your surroundings at all times. The ghettos beneath Atlas could be very harsh for the inexperienced. But Yin was no stranger to such environments and they all followed similar guidelines. She just had to keep her head down, acted like she belonged, and do some eavesdropping. That was her goal, so she had to find the seediest, filthiest establishment in the slums first. The kind where the scum of the earth liked to dwell. Most of the people there would be simple thugs and gangsters but technology was everything in Atlas, there was bound to be someone with the skills to work with Atlesian computer systems, enough that they could find the weaknesses in their security and identify ways to fix those faults, and possibly develop the proper software to strengthen the CCTS firewall or at least install a fail-safe that would alert the proper authorities that an intrusion had occurred which would be followed by an intense investigation. If someone with those skills and the means to produce what Yin wanted was not present then there would most certainly be someone there who knew where to find that person._

 _Sadly however after entering the bar she found it scarce, perhaps the usual occupants had been arrested after a crackdown? Either that or they where "Working" but regardless this was an annoyance, perhaps the bartender knew something?_

 _She walked over to the man currently wiping a beer mug clean, he was bald with some face tattoos, large build, but his clothing said he had some wealth, the uniform he wore was a bit classy for someone working in such a low income area, usually people like that had other means of acquiring currency. She took a seat._

"What do you want?" _The man asked as he looked at her with dark brown eyes, he was calm and content._

"Information."  
 _  
He frowned._ "I only talk to paying customers."

"A strawberry sunrise then, no ice, with little umbrella."

 _He seemed amused by the order but said nothing and made the drink regardless before presenting it to her, she accepted it but didn't drink and slapped the lien on the counter  
_  
"This paying customer needs information." _Yin affirmed, and the man nodded in response_

"What kind of information?"

"I'm looking for someone that can do a job for me." _She said, keeping her voice low_

"What kinda job? _" He asked, and she frowned  
_  
"Just so we're clear this is to remain confidential." _Yin said as she tapped the counter with one of her gloved fingers_

"I wont tell a soul."

"In that case, I'm looking for a guy that knows his way around Atlesian security systems, not cameras and vaults, I'm talking networking, programming, cyber security."

 _The barkeep nodded_ "I know a guy, but information isn't free."

"How much?"

"Depends on how much you wanna know lady, 50 lien for a name, 100 for a location, and 100 for any extra bits I've heard."

"I only want to buy if the product is good." _Yin replied_

"He's the best I know, I don't give my clients bad deals, not good for business."

 _She tossed 250 Lien on the counter between them, he looked at it and nodded._

"He lives in an abandoned apartment complex on the west side of town, the corner of Straus and Hollen, he usually hangs around in his little penthouse on the top floor, he's jittery and doesn't like surprises but he's the best at the kinda thing you're looking for. His name is Kaz, he's a flight over fight kinda guy so if you spook him he's probably gonna run to find some people he knows and have them introduce themselves to you."

"Any advice?"

"Knock, be patient, and flash your wallet at him." _He said with a grin at the last part_

 _She tossed another wad of cash on his counter_ "Keep the change, I was never here."

 _She didn't bother looking at the surprised face of the barkeep as she turned around on the stool and sat up, leaving the seedy bar._

 _The walk to her destination was a trivial affair, keeping to the less traversed areas of town and walking in places she knew Atlesian police would have a higher presence, it was a simple matter of following her Scroll's GPS locator to the specified location. It was a run down and abandoned apartment complex just as her informant had specified, all that she needed to do now was go inside, find his living space, and hopefully not scare him._

 _She made her way up the stairs and to the top floor, there appeared to be one room that was actually occupied with the door locked and some muffled music could be heard from inside, she knocked on the door, and moments later she heard the music shut off and someone shuffle to the door_

"Who's there?"

"A client."

"What do you w"ant?"

"I need a job done, I heard you where my best bet."  
 _  
A minute or two passed before the various locks placed on the door where removed besides a chain lock and he cracked the door partially open, a blue eye greeted her and looked her over_

"Can you pay for my services?"

 _She pulled out several 100 lien bills and flashed them, waving them in front of him_

"Alright..." _He opened the door and let Yin inside_ "Take a seat on the couch and tell me what I can do for you."

"I need someone who can work with Atlesian networks, Cyber Security."

"Yeah that's an area of expertise I have, what's the job?"

"An unofficial security patch for the CCTS."

 _The man she identified as a canine faunus of some sort had grabbed a pair of beers out of his fridge and started to drink out of one, and this job request made him do a spit-take_

"Woah, Woah, Woah… a security patch... for one of the most heavily protected systems in all of Remnant...?" _He asked cautiously_

"Can you do it?" _Yin inquired as the man sat on the other end of the U shaped couch in front of her, a table and laptop between them_ "Can I? Yeah, no security system is perfect, people like me will always find exploits no matter how hard the programmers might try to improve, there's no such thing as an impenetrable firewall."

"Will you then?"

 _The man gave her a look_ "I have a reputation of never turning down a good job, if you have the money and I have enough time, yeah, the only thing i require is a copy of the current firewall's structure so i can mess with it, and that's not something i can get myself."

"So if i where to provide a template you can work with, you can do it?"

 _The faunus nodded_

"Do you have a scroll?"

 _Another nod, Yin pulled out her own and gestured for him to hold out his, he did so, and after a few swipes and taps, along with entering a password, Yin sent the desired file to him_

"Damn... how did you get this...?" _He asked after plugging his phone into his laptop and examining the file_

"It's part of my job, that's all the information you'll get out of me." _Yin responded_

"Alright... you have the money, that much is obvious, what's my timeframe?"

"It needs to be in my posession within 3 months time, no later than that, I have a deadline and now so do you."

 _Kaz nodded._ "That should be enough time to plug up most of the loopholes and install a few failsafes... maybe strengthen the base security locks as well but that would mean deconstructing it and putting it together from scratch with my own additions... if you want a top of the line product, it will take me over 2 months so it might be cutting things kinda close."

"Do your best, i'll be back in 2 months time, i expect it to be ready, or almost ready when i return, are we clear?"

"Yeah but i expect payment... at least half of it to start, this is going to take up most of my time and i need to eat."

 _She tossed 10,000 Lien on the table without a second thought and stood from the couch._ "2 months." _She said before leaving the room and making her way into town._

 _To many her decision to leave the faunus with such information and that kind of money without supervision was risky, but taking all things into account, it wasn't, this guy cared about his reputation, that much was obvious, around here you didn't make it by double crossing the people that pay you, you had to have some notoriety, history, you had to be trustworthy and you had to have skill. This man couldn't afford to cross her, both concerning how he would be screwed financially and how she would hunt him down if he tried anything. So it was overall a safe bet to do this._

 _However after walking for some time to the airport, she couldn't help but noticed she was being followed, she paid closer attention to her surroundings and noticed she was definitely under surveillance. The Atlesian police must have been tipped off somehow, either the bartender was a paid informant, thus the lack of clients at his bar and the nice clothes, or someone else at the bar overheard the conversation and went to the cops, they get paid and the police get a new lead. Given Yin was likely suspected of being involved in cyber crime now they probably would try to apprehend her if she tried to leave the city._

 _This did not bode well, she didn't have time to deal with nosy cops meddling in her business. She needed to get them off her now, if she confronted them and sprinkled some truth in her lies then perhaps she could get them to let her go, if not she would have to break out... and use force if necessary. There was no way she would be able to evade them, Atlas was a military state, it had law enforcement and military personnel everywhere. Even if it wasn't people. Atlas just loved their AK-130 assault droids, the "Scary" looking robots that the SDC used a lot before the introduction of the nicer looking AK-200 and the Paladin._

 _She frowned beneath her cloth covering and sighed before turning around, sure enough there where a pair of Atlesian police officers behind her... but there was a third person she did NOT expect to see, at least not for a few months._

"To what do I owe the pleasure of meeting an Atlas Specialist?" _She asked the white haired woman, Winter Schnee, she had to admit Weiss's older sister was kinda hot-_

 _No, bad Yin, focus on the mission._

"You have brought this upon yourself, an informant told us that you plan a cyber attack on Atlas property." _The specialist accused sternly_

"You are mistaken." _Yin answered in equal measure_

"Then you wont mind us taking you in for a few questions?"

"If you insist."

 _The 2 police officers grabbed either of her arms and cuffed her bringing her to a police car and taking her to the station with the Schnee in the passenger seat._

 _Yin inwardly berated herself, she should have been more low-profile with her search... oh well... she could get out of this, she has dealt with far worse in the past..._

 _The trip was short, they took her scroll and did a pat down for weapons, not that it mattered if they took her scroll, it was against Atlesian constitutional law to search people's property without a warrant, even if they could somehow break the encryption she put on most of the files and broke through her BIOS password lock._

 _Apparently they wanted to get right down to business because Yin was immediately brought to a classic interrogation room, metal chair, metal table, camera, 1-way window, the works._

 _The elder of the Schnee sisters entered the room_

"Approximately 2 hours ago we where informed that you had specifically asked for an expert in code breaking and cyber security that knew Atlesian systems, normally this would not be an issue, people look for help to fix problems with their Scrolls and computers all the time, be it small damages to hardware, software problems, porn viruses and unwanted malware, you name it. But you asked for the best of the best and you did it off grid. You are going to tell me why, here and now."

"Put your boss on the line."

"General Ironwood is a busy man and-" _Winter began but was quickly cut off_

"You want me to talk? I'll talk to him because only he will understand what I have to say, if I don't talk to him, then I don't talk period, and we both know you can only detain me for a few days, without evidence of wrongdoing I get to go scot free and you are left with nothing. I take it the person I went to wasn't at his apartment when your men showed up or you would already know what I was doing."

 _The Schnee frowned, obviously irritated_ "If this is some sort of stupid prank to humiliate me or the General there will be hell to pay." _She pulled out her scroll and dialed a number, it rang a few moments before answering._

"Apologies sir, I didn't wish to disturb you but I have reason to believe a suspect is attempting a cyber crime, I brought them in and I am trying to get information out of them but they insist that they will only talk to you... yes sir... yes sir I understand... I'll put her on the line now."

 _Winter passed the phone to the blonde woman, her hands where cuffed to the table but she could still hold a phone to her head if she leaned down a bit, there was enough slack in the chains of her cuffs to allow it._

"Speak." _The obviously irritated voice of general ironwood was crystal clear in her ears._

"Delta-Echo-Alpha-Tango-Hotel, verification number 550108476."

 _The woman in front of her was just confused, but the deafening silence on the other side of the line said all she needed to hear, she was going to be released in a few moments._

"Put my specialist back on the line..." _The man ordered and she complied, offering the scroll to Winter and she put it to her ears._

"Yes sir? Yes... alright... I understand, my apologies, goodbye sir."

 _Winter sighed after hanging up and pulled a key out of her pocket, releasing Yin from her cuffs, she was lucky, but she didn't think that would work a second time, she would have to be more cautious in the future, lesson learned. She returned Yin's scroll and her money before she was ushered out the door without a word._

"Now... where was I? Ah yes, getting out of this dump..." _Yin mused and made her way to the Atlas international airport_

 _So much to do, so little time..._

* * *

A/N And that's it for this chapter... I made a new years resolution to go back to my writing, here's to 2020!

Please review!


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